


Is This A Good Idea?

by GobbertheDobber



Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types, How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: A mishmash of things from both fandoms, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Please have mercy, i think it gets better, this is a fucking mess, why do I do these things to myself
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-25
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:55:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21554218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GobbertheDobber/pseuds/GobbertheDobber
Summary: A cross between two series that I greatly enjoy. The Assassins of Berk have more important things to worry about than the Templars, like not getting eaten.
Relationships: Aveline de Grandpré/Ratonhnhaké:ton | Connor, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III/Astrid Hofferson
Kudos: 8





	1. Welcome to the Isle

**Author's Note:**

> Cross posted from dot net, this is a monstrosity (not from size just my own stupidity) I started on there and just now moved to here. If you're new, well, it's still a mess. Read, comment, and hopefully kudos it.
> 
> *Yeets into the void of the internet*

_This is Berk. It's twelve days north of Hopeless and just shy of Freezing to Death. It's located solidly on the Meridian of Misery._

A small island sat in the middle of the ocean. A huge mountain was directly in the center. Far out in front of it were two ancient lighthouses, shaped like Vikings and carved out of stone. Both had huge fires burning in their mouths. A small city made in levels sat on the beach with a large port. Two guards were patrolling the front of a warehouse right on the docks.

_The city has been here for over seven generations, but all the buildings are new, down to the last board. It is, in one word, sturdy. We have hunting, fishing, and a charming view of the sunset and less . . . savory activities when it goes down._

"Can you help me? I'm a little lost." The two guards jumped. A teenager walked up to them, hands in his pockets.

"What're you doin' out here kid?" The first asked. Like most Berkians, he looked like a bear, as did the other guard. They wore a ramshackle uniform of a green coat that went to just above their knees, dark pants, brown boots, brown shirt and a plain brown ball cap.

_My name is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. It's not the worst name around here._

"I said I'm lost." He answered. An arrow sprouted from the second guard's chest. Before the first could move, the teen took a step forward, grabbed his shoulder and stabbed him in the gut. The guard crumpled to his knees, dead.

_And that's Connor Kenway._

"Not bad." A much broader teen appeared out of the shadows, a wooden bow in hand. He had a leather quiver of arrows strapped to his back and a tomahawk along with a .38 revolver tucked into his belt. He wore a camouflage hoodie, grey fingerless gloves and brown cargo pants. A small braid came from under his hood.

_The thing is; I occasionally take part in those unsavory activities._

The teen that came up to the guards was shorter than him, almost eye level. He wore a brown tac vest that had a hood sewed onto it. He had a green long-sleeved shirt under it, as well as brown pants and work boots. A bowie knife and a nine-mill pistol hung from his belt. Both were wearing bracers.

"Let's pop the door open." Connor said and dropped to one knee to do so. Hiccup nodded and turned around to make sure that no one came up on them. Neither noticed the dark silhouette flying over them. They moved quietly through the warehouse taking care of the few guards without a fight. In the back they found a crate with the word **FRAGILE** burnt into it.

"Is that it?" Hiccup asked.

"Probably." Connor walked over to the crate and examined the lock.

"Can I pick this one?"

"No." In one smooth motion, the Native American raised his fist and punched the lock off.

"Why couldn't I do it?" Hiccup put his hands on his hips and whined without shame. Connor threw a glance over his shoulder and sighed.

"You realize you look like an angry toddler when you do that right?" Hiccup stuck his tongue out. Connor sighed again and then used the blade of his tomahawk to pry open the container. When the top came off there was nothing but straw. Connor frowned and dug around in it to find a metal container about the size of a lunch box. The two boys grinned.

"Mission accomplished!" Hiccup said happily and did a small victory dance. Connor chuckled.

"Come on; let's get to the homestead to open it." They began to trek uphill heading toward the outskirts of the city.

_But honest to God, what might be the worst part of this whole thing are the pests._

_Swoosh!_

_Some places get mice or mosquitoes._

Hiccup paused, "did you hear that?" He asked. Connor frowned.

"Hear what?"

_We get…_

" **DRAGONS**!" Somewhere in the lower levels there was a shout from the loudspeaker. In the blink of an eye, the city came alive. People poured out of buildings, strapping armor on over pajamas, most wiping sleep from their eyes.

_Most people would leave, not us. We're the great soldiers of Berk, we have . . . stubbornness issues._

A round fat dragon flew the air with a man slamming the butt of his gun into the thing's face, before getting thrown to the ground.

_Correction, we don't back down for shit._

As the two ran down the street there were numerous shouts directed their way.

"Wot are ya doin' out 'ere?"

"Get back inside!" The pair weaved through the people, passing a mountain of a man calmly picking his ear. They were about to cross a road, except Hiccup was waylaid. A huge man snatched him up and dangled him in the air. His huge red beard covered most of his chest, and he had an enormous flak jacket that looked like armor plating on under it, with large bracers on his wrists, military fatigue pants and heavy brown boots. A massive revolver hung from a belt that was as wide as Hiccup's head while the pistol grip of a shot gun peeked over his shoulder. Deep green eyes glared at Hiccup from under a steal-plated hat with gold trim that could stop a thirty aught-six round.

"What is _he_ doing outside? Jamming his face in Hiccup's he thundered "get inside boy!"

_That's Commander Stoick. Leader of everything that has to do with everything here. They say that when he was 8 he blew a dragon's head off its shoulders. Do I believe it?_

Stoick picked up a wheelbarrow and launched it one-handed at a dragon resembling a chicken, trying to make off with a sheep.

_I sure as hell do._

"What have we got?" he asked a soldier hiding behind a barricade

"Gronkles, Nadders, Zipplebacks. Oh! And Steve saw a Monstrous Nightmare." The Commander was calmly looking up into the sky when a fire ball hit not twenty feet from them. The big man didn't move a muscle except to absently flick an ember off his shoulder while the soldier ducked.

"Any Night Furies?" the larger man rumbled.

"None so far."

"Good."

A pair of huge automatic spotlights lit up as Hiccup and Connor passed them, revealing dozens of dragons flying through the air. They dove into a store with the words _Gobber's Guns and Body Shoppe_ painted on the large sign in front of it _._ Inside, a man almost as big as Stoick was calmly tightening the bolts on a Humvee's tire. He had a huge blond mustache hanging to his chest with a matching uni-brow, a serious case of cauliflower ear and a large pebble in his mouth to replace several teeth he lost in a barfight. He wore a brown vest, a yellow grubby shirt and ripped up tan pants. He waved the ratchet that was replaced his left hand and stood on a peg leg. He wore the same hat slash that Stoick did, along with a row of short spikes down the middle like a mohawk.

"Ha! Nice of ya ta join the party! I thought ya had ta get him away from a dragon Connor!" Hiccup shrugged off his own vest and pulled an apron on before replacing a grenade launcher on the rack.

"Who me? Oh come on I am way too muscular for their taste. They wouldn't know what to do with all-l-l this." Hiccup motioned to himself, flexing barely there muscles.

"Weel they _toothpicks_ don' they?" The big man chucked. With a grunt Connor heaved a large crate full of magazines onto the table.

"Toothpicks?" Connor asked "you mean floss."

_The meat head with an attitude and interchangeable is Gobber. I've worked for him since I was little, well… littler. Connor works here whenever training doesn't stop him._

"We move to the lower defenses. We'll counter attack with the heavy guns." Stoick roared to his men as they charged down a ramp. Above them a building exploded.

_See? Old place plus dragon attacks equals lots and lots of remodeling._

"FIRE!" Some old sergeant yelled out in front of Gobber's store slash personal armory. Not twenty seconds later a bright red fire truck with a 50 cal. machine gun stuck to the roof streaked by and skidded to a halt and several teens jumped out.

A huge, beefy, teen wearing a brown shirt that hung to his knees but left his arms free with green pants and the brown boots that were the norm, over his tiny legs and feet. His hatmet was surprisingly small for his head.

_That's Fishlegs. He's a nice enough guy, just refers to everything in rpg stats._

A powerfully built teen thundered behind Fishlegs with muscles as big as his head. He wore a blue Kevlar vest with even darker blue pants and a yellow v neck shirt that screamed _I'm a jerk!_ A large silver belt buckle kept his pants up. A row of studs went through the middle of his hatmet like Gobber's spikes.

_Snotlout, my . . . cousin._

A boy and a girl were fighting over a hose trying to use it first.

_The twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut. Also the local psychos. Don't let them corner you. Severe wedgies are certain to follow. And then there's Aveline, Connor's girlfriend. Also an assassin._

Aveline, a black girl with three braids that came out from under her honest to god normal hat, jumped on top of the truck and let loose with the 50 cal, she wore a dark shirt with the same bracers that Connor and Hiccup wore.

_But her…_

A blonde girl emptied out a bucket into the flames, only to have a large fireball land in the exact same spot. She wore a blue shirt with a Kevlar vest along with strangely tight camouflage cargo pants which were tucked into her boots. Instead of a hatmet, she wore a leather circlet that kept most of her hair out of her face with the exception of her bangs and a large braid went down her back.

" _Astrid . . ._ " the name came out as a breathy sigh. He watched the teens charge past to start on another building. _Their job is so much cooler than mine. Well, at least the legal one._

"No ya don!" He had started climbing out after them, only to be picked up and hauled back in the building. Hiccup found himself dangling from a pair of channel locks that were replacing Gobber's hand at the moment.

"Oh come _on_ , let me out _please_. I need to make my mark!"

"Oh, you've made plenty o' marks" Gobber rumbled before setting him down, and jabbing him in the chest with the channel locks, " _all in tha wrong places_."

"Please? Just two minutes, I'll kill a dragon, my life will get infinitely better, I might even get a date!"

"You can't lift a rocket launcher, and I know you can't shoot one, hell, you can't even though one of _these_!" Gobber waved a small bola around, only to have it snatched out of his hand and thrown at another short, fat dragon by a soldier outside.

"Okay, but _this_ will throw it _for_ me." Hiccup patted a large cannon like thing in the back of the shop, only to have it go off and smack a soldier out the window in the face, and grazing the back of Connor's head.

"Holy shit!" Connor snapped his head up and glared at the soulless ginger that tried to kill him. "Dude! Watch it!"

"Ya see? This right _here_ is exactly what Ah'm talkin' about!" Gobber gestured furiously at the launcher.

"That was a minor calibration issue!" Hiccup stuttered, trying to defend his precious invention.

"No," Gobber made a final gesture, "if _you're_ going ta get out _there_ ," he pointed at the shop window "then you need ta stop all . . . _this_ " he pointed at his assistant. Said assistant was not amused.

"You just pointed to all of me." He muttered, deflating slightly. The hulking mechanic nodded furiously.

"Tha's _it_! Stop bein' all o' you!" Gobber rumbled. With a grunt, Hiccup drew himself up and rolled his shoulders back.

"You sir, are playing a dangerous game!" Hiccup threatened for all he was worth, while Gobber was just amused, "keeping this much . . . raw . . . _manliness_ contained! There _will_ be consequences!" His voice rose as he spoke. Gobber remained unaffected.

"Ah'll take mah chances. Bazooka. Repair. Now." Tossing said weapon into the boy's arms, Gobber walked off to help Connor with putting ammo crates on the window counter.

 _One day, I'll get out there. Because killing a dragon is_ everything _around here. A Nadder head will at least get me noticed._

Three brightly colored dragons vaguely resembling chickens destroyed a looking for food. Their long tails whirled in the air and they snapped their beaked mouths in frustration.

 _Gronkles are tough. Takin' down one of those would_ definitely _get me a girlfriend._

A pair of short, stubby, brown-colored dragons was stealing racks of fish; their wings turning into blurs on their backs as they flew away.

_A Zippleback . . . exotic, two heads, but twice the status._

A large, two headed dragon shot gas into a house with one head while the other waited for it to fill before launching a large ball of sparks inside, setting it alight.

"They've found the sheep!" A soldier cried as Stoick tossed his revolver onto the platform of a gun battery.

"Concentrate fire on tha lower banks!" Stoick roared a response as he single handedly turned the battery for aiming.

"Hurry up!" One of the soldiers yelled before firing and taking out Nadder trying to steal a flock of sheep.

_And then . . . there's the Monstrous Nightmare. Only the bravest . . . or the dumbest go after one of those._

A large shadow passed over Stoick making, him pause.

_They have a nasty habit of setting themselves on fire._

Stoick looked over the edge of the tower, were a very large and burning muzzle suddenly appeared and snapped at him.

"Reload!" The huge man bellowed, " _I'll_ take care of this," before pistol whipping the dragon. The dragon snapped at him again only to be cleanly avoided by the man, when a shriek went through the air making them both pause.

_But the best trophy out there is the dragon no one has ever seen._

In near unison, cries of "Night Fury!" were going through the streets with dragons and soldiers alike diving for cover. A large purple fireball slammed into the battery that Stoick was helping at.

"JUMP!" The commander bellowed. Stoick threw himself into the water and the battery soldiers followed him, barely avoiding the explosion from the firebolt.

_That thing doesn't steal food, never shows itself, and NEVER misses._

A second fireball hit the tower, and the structure collapsed on itself.

_NO ONE has ever killed a Night Fury. So I'm gonna be the first._

"Man the fort, lads. They need me out there!" Gobber thundered as he jammed a grenade launcher into place for his hand and shrugged on a bandolier of shells. He waddled to the door and turned to Hiccup "Stay. Put. There." With a frown, he continued "you know wot Ah mean." Then he looked at Connor, "watch 'im." And with that, he plunged head-first into the fray with a roar.

"Now?" Connor asked.

"Now."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Where the hell are you going lads?" Sven, a lieutenant, rumbled as the teens bounded away from the store.

"Don't worry guys! We'll be right back!" Hiccup yelled over his shoulder as he pushed his launcher-cannon-thing along like a wheelbarrow, while Connor held an M4 in a tight grip, more worried about being attacked by Templars than dragons. Finally, they got to a hill near an old tower, and waited. Connor could hear Hiccup asking for something to shoot at in a whisper. On closer inspection he could see that the cannon-thing had one metal tube with two crossbow looking things on either side of the metal tube. These had strong ropes that could be pulled back with a handle so it could be fired. The shriek of a Night Fury went right through the air and the tower exploded in purple flames. Hiccup whipped the launcher around and launched off a wild shot.

"Holy shit!" Hiccup pointed like a crazy person "I hit it!" With a shriek, something that looked vaguely dragon shaped fell from the sky.

"Yeah, that's great. Now let's go!" Connor attempted to hurry along the process of getting back to the shop while Hiccup was almost having a nerdgasm.

"Did anyone else see that?" The skinny teen yelled.

**CRUNCH**

They both turned around to find a Monstrous Nightmare standing on the remains of Hiccup's launcher.

"He did." Hiccup stated the obvious

"RUNNNNNNN!" Connor stated the even more obvious.

On the other side of the island, Stoick was finishing up restraining three Nadders when he heard screaming. He glanced over his shoulder and sighed.

"Do NOT let them escape!"

"Right!"

Hiccup and Connor ran like lunatics dodging fireballs. As one they both dived for cover, Connor behind a barrier, Hiccup behind a spotlight. A huge swathe of flames went over the teens cover. As Hiccup peeked around the light, he did not see the dragon's head come around the other side of the light. Said dragon was tackled by four hundred pounds going eighty miles an hour. The dragon attempted to douse the soldier in flames, but only succeeding at spewing out a small stream of flame. Stoick snarled.

"You're all out." The leader of Berk drew his shotgun from his back and fired it one-handed at the dragon's face. The massive eight gauge slug ricocheted of the extraordinarily thick scales of the dragon's forehead. He then flipped the shotgun end over end, took the barrel, and hit the dragon right in the face with it. Stoick beat the dragon, ending with one massive kick to the face, until it flew away. With a triumphant huff he turned and watched as the supports of the spotlight gave out and revealed Hiccup in all of his unfortunate glory. Both of the red-heads watched as the huge light rolled down the island and exploded, setting loose the three Nadders _and_ giving them a nice big bag of sheep to take home.

_There's one more thing you need to know._

"Sorry dad." Stoick did not react, at all. The whole city watched as the dragons flew away, all noticing the bag of sheep. "Okay, but I hit a Night Fury." Without answering Stoick started to haul his son away. "It's like the last few times dad!" Hiccup protested "you guys were busy and I had a good shot! It went down just past Raven Point we could get a search out there-"

"STOP! Just stop." Stoick sighed. Why was his son so goddamn different? _If only Val was still here . . ._ he squashed that line of thought, no use for dwelling on the past. "Every time you step outside disaster falls! Can you not see I have bigger problems? Winter is almost here and I have a whole damn city to feed!"

"Well, between you and me, this place could use a little less feeding don't ya think?" This comment made a few of the more, shall we say, _chunky_ members pat their huge stomachs.

"This is not a joke Hiccup! Why the hell can't you follow the simplest orders?"

"I can't stop myself! I see a dragon and I have to just kill it ya know?" Stoick sighed and rubbed his forehead with fingers the size of bratwursts.

"You're many things son. But a dragon killer is not one of them. Get back to the house." Stoick looked at Gobber "Make sure he gets there. I have his mess to clean up." With a head slap from the mechanic the two made their way to Hiccup's house on the north side of the city. Connor started to follow but got yelled at instead. "You! Quit encouraging my son to do this shit!" Connor turned and found Stoick's fiery glare meant just for him.

"These things are his whole idea sir; I just go along with them." The commander blinked, clearly not expecting the answer he got.

"Then talk him out of it!" Connor gave a short bark of laughter.

"HA! Good luck!" And he ran down the street after Hiccup and his mentor.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 _Who calls their cousin a dipshit?_ Astrid wondered as she walked to her house. That was one of the _terms_ Snotlout had called Hiccup as he had walked away. That's not counting the digs that Ruff and Tuff said. The twins were essentially Snotlout's goons that held his victims down while Snotlout beat the bejesus out of them. But why Hiccup?

"You should talk to Hiccup." Astrid stiffened and turned as Altair stepped out of the shadows.

"What are you talking about?" She asked. The corners of his mouth twitched faintly and he continued.

"I saw the look you gave him as he walked away with Gobber."

"You weren't even there."

"I see, hear, and know everything that happens on this island." Astrid looked confused, but realized something.

"Not without help." He shrugged

"Aveline told me." She blinked.

"What?"

"Aveline told me." He said it much slower that time, like he was speaking to a child. Astrid frowned.

"What does she care about Hiccup?" A flash of irritation went across Altair's face.

"She is one his closest friends, as am I." Altair glared, which was something that had made even Commander Stoick think twice about crossing him. "He also has a crush on you the size of the whole damn island. If you're going break the poor bastard's heart, make sure to let him down easy and that Aveline doesn't hear you." And with that, he vanished.


	2. He really Did tho

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This might be a mess. Sorry guys.

**THE MORNING AFTER THE RAID**

“I really did hit one.”

“Sure Hiccup.”

“He never listens.”

“It runs in tha family.”

“And when he does, it always with this disappointed scowl.” The teenager stuck his hands on his hips and in a passable imitation of his father’s accent said “excuse me, barmaid. Ah balieve you brought me the wrong offspring, Ah ordered an extra-large boy with beefy arms, extra guts an’ glory on the side. This ‘ere, this is a talkin’ fishbone!” Gobber rubbed his forehead and sighed.

“Naow yer thinkin’ aboot this all wrong, it’s nay aboot what ya look like, it’s what’s inside that he can’t stand.” Hiccup stared at him for a few moments with a strange look on his face.

“Thank you, for summing that up.” Gobber sighed.

“Tha point is, stop tryin’ so hard ta be somethin’ yer not.” The boy shuffled his feet and opened the door.

“I just wanna be one of you guys.” The door shut, Gobber sighed heavily then started back down the path. He was completely oblivious to the troublemakers that shot out the back door.

**THE GREAT HALL**

The ancient building had stood for hundreds of years. It held an enormous fire pit in the center of the building. Directly above it was a golden statue of a dragon being impaled by a sword. It had been used as a war room for as long as the people of Berk could remember. The invention of gunpowder changed nothing.

“Either we’ll finish them or they’ll finish us.” It was not a new speech. Every adult in the room had heard it several times. The words and faces would change, but the message was the same. “It’s the only way we’ll be rid of them.” Stoick’s massive hands were planted on either side of an old map. He raised up a combat knife and slammed it into the paper. “One more search, before the ice sets in.” Someone in the back spoke up.

“Those ships never come back.” Stoick dismissed the answer with a wave of his hand.

“We’re soldiers, it’s an occupational hazard. Noaw who’s with me?” He thundered, glancing around the room. The commander saw the hesitation in the room then huffed.

“Tamorra’s nae good fer me . . .”

“Ah’ve got a thing commin’ up . . .”

“Thar’s a dence recital tha mah niece is in.” Stoic leaned away from the pit to stand up straight. Then he played his trump card.

“Whoevar stays will look after Hiccup.” The hall exploded with noise.

“Ah’m with ya Stoick!”

“To tha ships!”

“Run!” The Commander grinned.

“Tha’s more like it.” The people hurried out of the hall, shoving each other to move faster. Gobber was watching from a table near the edge of the giant room.

“Weellp, Ah’ll go an’ pack me undies.” The tankard attachment in place for a hand slid along the table with a clatter and Gobber took a large gulp. Stoick shook his head.

“I need you ta stay, and train some new recruits.” The ginger sat down on the bench next to his old friend. The commander passed a weary hand over his face. The light grey around his mouth was starting to show.

“Oh tha’s just pearfect! An’ while Ah’m busy Hiccup can covah tha stall! Tha’ll work itself out, C4 an’ powah tools! Just what a growin’ boy needs ta sort owt ‘is issues!” Stoick sighed, burying his head in his hands.

“What am Ah goin’ ta do with him Gobber?” Silence ruled for a moment, and Gobber answered quietly.

“Put ‘im in trainin’ wit the others.”

“He’d be killed before ya let the first on out of its cage.”

“Pffft. Ya don’ know tha’.” Stoick nodded seriously.

“Yes, actually Ah do.”

“No ya don’!” Stoick let out a rumbling sigh and stood up.

“Listen,” Stoick tucked his thumbs into his belt and stood on his heels “ya know what he’s like. Ah could take ‘im fishin’ an’ he be out troll hunting.”

“Oi! Trolls exist! They like them old VHS tapes.” The mechanic flailed the tankard around “an’ they steal yer socks. Wha’s with tha?”

“Ya had way too much mead, tha never happened.”

“Pfft.” They both rolled their eyes at each other. Stoick crossed his big arms over his massive chest. Faded scars from hundreds of battles crisscrossed his skin.

“He’s nae like me Gobber, even when Ah was his age, Ah knew who Ah was an’ what Ah had ta become. Our people have been here fer hundreds of years. We tamed tha seas, we’ve held this island since we’ve been here. The Berserkers tried ta kill us, the Romans tried ta kick us out, and the dragons never left. When tha Nazis tried to take over, we went ta the front lines with tribes we’ve hated for centuries. We kept them out of the archipelago until they had more important things ta do.” Stoick let his eyes pass over the old paintings that covered the ancient stone walls. Each told a story.

In one, a grey skinned man with an axe and a boy with a bow stood between a warrior princess who also had a bow and a masked man with a flaming sword and a peg leg. In another, what Gobber insisted were trolls went to war with the ancient Vikings. In the next the trolls were repelled by the many tribes of the archipelago. He turned back to the table and sat back down.

“Ah know yer worried Stoick, but tha boy’s got a head on ‘is shoulders better than anyone Ah’ve ever met.” Gobber took a deep drink from the tankard. “We both know thar’s worse things than dragons out thar. If the rumors Ah keep hearin’ are true, an’ Ah think they are, things are goin’ ta be very weird in the next few years.” Stoick pulled a flask from his belt and drank.

“May we live in interestin’ times.”

“Tha’s a curse ya idiot.”

**FOUR MILES AWAY, FOUR HOURS EARLIER**

Connor and Hiccup moved through the tree limbs like demonic monkeys. They headed in the general direction of where the dragon went, letting Connor’s psychic eyeball superpowers lead the way. There were flecks on the ground that were scattered all over the place. To Connor, they were glowing a bright gold.

The forests of Berk could be very difficult to traverse. They were mostly made of valleys and cliffs coming from the mountain in the center of the island. The larger trees tended to form at the tops of the valleys, and sprawling root systems went up and down the sides.

On the more gradual slopes, it was more like normal woodlands with needleleaf trees that had widely spaced branches. Unfortunately, Terrors liked roosting in packs in the tree tops, and one badly placed foot could have them all trying to eat you. The pair were deliberately giving one such tree a wide berth. They kept going, with the same easy going steady pace of people who knew that they were doing. But their luck ran out, and they descended to the forest floor.

“This is just my luck,” Hiccup moaned “Some people lose a knife in the mud, or drop a cell phone in a puddle, but that’s _too_ good for me, I lose an entire _dragon_.” The ginger smacked a low hanging away and got nailed in the face for his trouble.

“That tree is broken.” Connor whispered, in a tight, quiet voice. Hiccup nodded slowly. Their eyes followed the bent trunk, landing on a deep rut that had been plowed into the ground. “Just how many things could be flying in this direction?”

“Very few.”

“Great.” The pair of them silently walked down the trench, bracing themselves for what they were pretty sure they were going to find. It was slow, their eyes jumping around, worried they would get sideswiped by an apex predator. Hiccup, who was in the lead, carefully poked his head up over the lip and immediately jerked it back down. He nodded slowly at his brother. Both swallowed.

The offspring of lightning and death laid there, bound up in heavy duty nylon. They snuck forward, trying to hide behind the only cover they could get to. There was a silent, frantic argument full of hand movements and careful shoving. Slowly, Hiccup came around the stone and walked forward.

“I did. Christ Almighty I did it. Do you see this! I actually did it!” He put a boot on the dragon’s shoulder like a hero of old, fists proudly jammed on his hips. Then the dragon rumbled and shifted, and Hiccup almost peed himself. The ginger tripped over himself backing away. In spite of himself, Connor had to bite back a snort. Then he moved forward to help his brother up.

“So now what?” Hiccup gave him an odd look.

“Excuse me?”

“The thing’s tied up at your feet. Either kill him or cut him loose.”

“Oh, right.” A hidden blade came out of its sheathe. Hiccup took it with both hands, raised it over his head, and got a good look at the dragon’s now open eye. “I’m gonna kill you dragon. I’ll cut out your heart and take it to my father, then I’ll . . . I’ll . . . not do any of that.” He sighed, rubbed his face, and put the knife away. Connor let out a huff.

“Is this a good idea?” Connor asked, “We _are_ about to cut one of the deadliest creatures on the planet loose.” Hiccup just waved the question away.

“Let’s just get it over with.” Both of them set to work, nervously glancing over their shoulders every thirty seconds to make sure no one was coming. Knives cut, ropes snapped, and muscles hidden under scaly hide tensed.

When the last rope broke, two things happened at once. The creature’s tail slammed into Connor’s chest, forcing every once of air out of his chest. Hiccup was slammed into the ground by a large black paw. The pair stared into each other’s eyes for the second time.

Positions had been reversed.

The same choice was made.

Hiccup was deafened by a long roar from the dragon’s maw and the animal shot off into the forest. Hiccup watched it try to haul itself into the air, but it suddenly veered sideways and slammed into a mountainside.

Connor finally sucked in a massive breath, then heaved himself back to his feet. He staggered over to Hiccup’s side and tried to get him to stand up. The red head got up shakily, then walked two steps and passed out with a whimper. A swearing Connor was dragged down with him.

**MUCH LATER**

Their house was a simple building. The only thing that made it the commander’s was the ancient figurehead situated at the roof’s peak. It had two floors and very few rooms. The living room was the first thing people saw when they walked in. To the right of the door, there was an L-shaped kitchen. In the center of the room was an old firepit with a few sofas and a couch surrounding it. A staircase led to the children’s bedroom and a balcony. Everything was made of granite and oak. The furniture was made of industrial grade steel and flame-retardant cloth, perfect for taking cover behind if a dragon came through the ceiling.

The pair tried to sneak in. Well, Hiccup tried, Connor actually did. Stoick was crouched next to the firepit, fiddling with a poker. Connor, the one with plenty of skill zipped up the stairs without a sound. At the landing, he shot a smirk back at his brother and vanished into their room. Hiccup gave Connor’s shoulder blades one of the dirtiest looks the human race would ever produce. Hiccup did his best, he really did. He tried be sneaky, but ended up putting too much weight on his toes.

“Hiccup.” Both gingers let out small sighs.

“Dad, I need to talk to you.” The huge man nodded and rubbed his hands together.

“I need to speak to you to son.”

“I’ve decided I don’t want to fight dragons.”

“I think it’s time you learn to fight dragons.”

“What?” They stared at each other, confused. The father spoke first.

“You go first.” The humble son turned him down.

“No, no. You go first.” The man sighed, putting his big hands on his hips.

“Alright son, ya get your wish. You’ll join Connor in dragon training tomorrow morning.”

“Hoo boy, I should have gone first. Y’know dad, we have an awful lot of dragon fighting guys, but do we have enough bakers down at the deli, or small home repair—” An assault rifle with a bayonet shaped like an axe head was pushed into his arms.

“You’ll need this.” The boy sputtered, staggering under the weight of a weapon made for someone much bigger than him.

“I don’t want to fight dragons dad.” The big man chuckled and waved his hand like the words did not exist.

“Yes ya do! Tha’s all ya been talkin’ about fer years.” Stoick turned away and stepped toward an olive green duffle bag. His son was starting to panic.

“Okay, uh, rephrase. Dad, I can’t kill dragons.” Hiccup followed behind his father, almost babbling.

“But you _will_ kill dragons.”

“Uh, no. I’m very extra sure that I won’t.” Stoick stopped and turned around, his face hardened.

“It’s time Hiccup.”

“Can you not hear me?”

“This is _serious_ son” He reached out and took the gun in his hand without effort “when you carry this weapon, you carry all of us with you” he reached out and adjusted his son’s stance “that means you walk like us, you talk like us, and you think like us” he tapped his temple with an index finger “no more of, _this_ ” a frustrated gesture was made at his son’s whole body.

“You just gestured to all of me.”

“Do we have deal?”

“This conversation is feeling _very_ one sided.”

“DEAL?” Hiccup let out a frustrated sigh.

“Deal.”

“Good.” He swept up the duffle bag and threw it over his shoulder “train hard. I’ll be back, probably. Keep your brother safe. You to Connor.” The second son waved from where he stood on the landing.

“And we’ll be here, maybe.” The door shut. Connor hopped up and over the bannister and landed with a roll.

“He cares.” Connor said. Hiccup sighed and took the gun over to the coffee table.

“Of course, he does” Hiccup sat the gun down and began field stripping the weapon “I always wake up in bed regardless of where I pass out” the slide was removed, and the barrel was taken off “and we never run out of your stupid shampoo.” Connor chuckled then jumped up on the counter.

“The people here have all the friendly knocked out of them in their teens” Hiccup pulled the stock off and looked the rest of the weapon over “They’ve been fighting for survival for hundreds of years. That’s not going to change anytime soon.” Hiccup let out a quiet sigh.

“I’m going to bed. We can worry about the lizard in the morning.”

**THE NEXT MORNING**

“Welcome ta dragon trainin’!” Gobber hefted the opening grate to the dragon pen open and stepped inside. The teenagers filed in behind him talking about scars, mauling, and were trying to get as many cool sounding noises out of their guns as possible. Hiccup snorted as Ruffnut started talking about where she wanted to get chewed on by a dragon.

“I know right? Pain, _love_ it.” The meatheads of the group turned around to glower at him. They immediately turned around as Connor and Aveline stepped into the ring. She had her hat turned backwards, checking a submachine gun over with a knife clamped in her teeth. The fresh edge on her machete sparkled in the sun. Connor spun cocked a lever action rifle that could double as a spear and popped his knuckles, a bandolier of extra rounds around his chest his tomahawk at his belt. His bowsting had been well oiled, and his arrows were snug in the quiver.

“Let’s get started!” Gobber thundered “The recruit who does best will win the honor of killing their first dragon” a bull hook duct taped to an SMG grabbed at the air and twisted viciously.

The teenagers all formed into a line and waited for the lesson to begin.

“These are just a few of the dragons that ye’ll learn ta foight!” The mustachioed maniac sauntered past a few massive doors, reinforced to keep the giant reptiles in. On Hiccup’s other side Fishlegs talking about stats and other things that weren’t helping until Gobber yelled at him. Then the mechanic settled his enormous hand on a lever and grinned.

“Whoa! Aren’t you gonna teach us anything first?!” Snotlout shouted, suddenly terrified. The big man’s grin got worse, and the three teenagers that really knew him started running for cover.

“Ah believe in learnin’ on the job!” He crowed as a flying tank came out of its hole. “Tadae’s aboot survival. Thar’s two things ya need. What are they!?” The teacher bellowed over the din. The dragon smashed into the wall next to the entrance grate and snapped up a few decent sized rocks up off the ground, its teeth shining.

“Insurance?” Hiccup offered from behind a weapon rack.

“Plus five speed?” Fishlegs said, his small legs carrying him at a surprising speed.

“A shield!” Astrid shouted, looking like a coiled spring. Gobber let out a booming laugh.

“Tha’s right! Then what comes next?” Connor shot by a shelf of grenades like a man on fire.

“Airwaves!” He threw a set at Hiccup then Aveline.These were special flashbangs with a very short fuse, designed to send out a massive concussive shockwave with the intention of exploding in the air. The shields were made for people to hunker down behind to ignore the explosion if they were too close or a dragon needed to get smacked in the face. The shields were collapsible and were attached to special gauntlets. The wielder slipped an arm through the first strap, their hand through the handgrip, and turned their hands in a circle to make the shield expand.

“Each dragon has a shot limit. How many does a gronkle have?” Gobber was still lurking on the edge of the arena like a giant Scottish ghost. He kept a careful watch on his pupils, completely aware that he had just turned a giant firebreathing reptile loose in their midst. But sometimes the old ways worked the best. The ring was the second oldest structure on the island, after the Great Hall.

“Five?” Snotlout offered.

“No, six!” Fishlegs corrected.

“Correct! Six! Tha means six o’ ya are gonna get nailed!” A fireball slammed into the big kid’s shoulder. He bolted for the exit with a scream. The flame-retardant cloth of his jacket kept him alive as he nearly dropped his sub machine gun to the ground. The twins were arguing over who got which shield, both having grabbed one covered in flames and skulls.

“Get your sticky hands off my shield!”

“There’s like a million shields, get your own!”

“That one has a flower on it. Take that one. Girls like flowers, right?” Ruffnut tore the shield out of her brother’s hands then smacked him in the face with it.

“Whoops, now this one has blood on it.” She mockingly handed it back and her brother sprang back to his feet like a man possessed and they were fighting again. Then a fireball smashed into it, sending the two to the floor.

“Tuffnut, Ruffnut, yer done!” He crowed. He watched them for a few more moments to make sure they were fine then going back to watching the rest of the kids. “Show me yer throwin’ arms! Airwaves away!” The remaining teenagers spread out, flexing their gauntleted wrists or palming grenades. This group did not all get along well, but they all knew what the order meant. Throw a ‘nade, then take cover, quick as they could. The explosives went leaving the dragon stunned. The teens were all hiding behind their shields.

The creature wobbled in the air, a perfect target. The weapons the kids brought in had been loaded with special ammunition that was a mix of paint balls and beanbags. Each had a different color as a way scoring points.

It was terribly uncoordinated, but the beginnings of a team was there. Snotlout brought a light machine gun sturdy enough to be used as a hammer to bare on the animal’s left flank. Aveline darted in, firing in short bursts at the Gronkle’s legs. Astrid and Hiccup, both having an assault rifle, circled at medium range, putting out short bursts. Connor was at the back, making calm, methodical shots at vital areas. Unfortunately, it did not last.

“So I moved into my parents basement,” Snotlout began. Astrid shot him a frustrated look over her shoulder “you should come by some time and work out” she flipped away from an incoming fireball and the jock was too busy trying to get a look at her ass to notice it. The flames were weaker now, the dragon was running out of fuel. Astrid came to a stop next to Hiccup, who fired off a few final shots.

“So it’s just us now. Okay then.” He tried and failed to sound smooth. The girl glanced over her shoulder with a frustrated look in her eyes.

“Those two are doing fine.” Connor and Aveline were working like the well-oiled machine they were. He had gotten closer and was making the shots faster, while she had gotten farther away and was firing in controlled bursts. The animal had clearly thrown off any remaining dizziness from the grenades and rose into the air to get a better view of the arena. It spotted the two of them and fired. She rolled away, while he tried the same move but came up short. The killer upchuck grazed Hiccup’s shoulder, and he scrambled away like a maniac. The dragon snarled, flying after him like an angry beach ball with terrible acne.

Then the boy took a left when he should have gone right. His hands shot up to keep his face away from the wall, then he whirled on the balls of his feet. The lizard’s teeth flashed in the sun, and Hiccup almost wet his pants. He fell back and slammed into the wall of the arena. He looked away, gritting his teeth.

The animal sniffed at him, opened its mouth to summon the last of its flames, then a bullhook slipped into its mouth and the reptile was wrenched away.

“An’ tha’s six! Go back ta bed ya overgrown sausage!” The creature was put away, the lock was slipped into place. Gobber sauntered away with the pride of some one doing what they were best at “ye’ll get anoother chance donchu worry.” He walked over to the redhead then pulled him to his feet “remember class, a dragon will always, _always,_ ” he got down in Hiccup’s face “go for the kill.” The big man took a step back. Connor went to his brother like an arrow from his bow, looking him up and down. The pair glanced at each other, considering what Gobber had said. In the silent communication that siblings had, a plan was made.

**A HALF HOUR LATER**

The bola rope was heavy in Hiccup’s hands. Just behind him stood Connor. The bigger teen’s eyes flicked through the like he expected the dragon to ambush them. Which he did.

“Weird, isn’t it?” Hiccup began.

“I heard what he said.” Connor ran a thumb over the edge of his tomahawk, and avoided a conversation about psychology, “I am entirely aware of how smart animals can be.” Hiccup snorted, then stood. They started in the general direction of where the dragon went. They crept through the under brush with the kind of patience that came from hiding from their older, paintball freezing friends. Connor had taken the lead, using his psychic eyeball powers to find anything at all that had to do with the dragon.

It took a while, but Connor eventually stopped to stare at the ground. Hiccup crept up to his adopted brother’s side to see what it was. Connor held a small, black, _thing_. The two stared at it closely. It was small and would easily fit in either one’s palm. One side was in a domed shape that was smooth to the touch. The other was flat, with thin straight lines running parallel.

Connor slipped it into a pocket, then pointed off to the side. A trail of the things led off into the woods. They glanced at one another and headed out into the forest. Following them was easy, carrying them was not. It was Hiccup’s idea, something about not risking anyone seeing anything. Connor just knew they were a lot heavier than they looked, and that he wanted to throttle his brother.

That was when they found a small entrance to what appeared to be an inland cove. The two of them crept forward, picking up hardened drops of blood or scales (neither had looked at the pieces hard enough to tell) as they went. Hiccup had taken the lead and was moving slowly toward the circular opening. He caught a glimpse of a small pond, the base of a large tree, when something big, black, and fast shot by.

They both jerked away, blades being drawn from belts and sleeves in preparation for murder. A rain of small rocks started falling onto the cusp in front of them. Hiccup started creeping forward again to get a better view.

He was expecting many things once he got into position, but he was still surprised. The Night Fury was scrambling like mad to get up above the cove’s walls. Hiccup made a small beckoning gesture with his fingers as the reptile flew down to the bank of the pond. Connor came forward, holding himself low to the ground.

Hiccup drew a small journal out of his vest and scratched out the dragon’s basic shape. Two powerful wings, with a much smaller subset. A wedged shaped head with small nubs around the base of the skull. A long tail with a large set of fins at the tip for steering. At this point, Connor nudged him and whispered, “he’s missing one.” Hiccup glanced up to see the animal’s tail. Sure enough, the dragon was missing the left tail fin. Both of them were quiet for a moment to think. Hiccup was trying to decide if they needed to do something to help the animal, while Connor was trying to think of a way to talk Hiccup out of whatever his big head came up with.

“Time to leave.”

“Yes.”


	3. An Idiot plays with a Large Death Lizard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unfortunately, this one isn't as long as the previous one. Have fun though!

**THE NEXT DAY**

The Homestead was an oddity. It sat next to a small inlet and was surrounded by cliffs. The house itself was big and white with two floors and looked a like an ordinary manor, but this one was special. Beneath the boring façade and anti-aircraft turrets was a basement filled with the history of the Assassins. Ancient weapons sat in vaults that had supposedly been made by dwarves. Technology from the Da’at Yichud sat next to instruction manuals the size of telephone books. Pressed flowers that supposedly glowed were pinned to the wall. Plans to break into Santa’s workshop sat on a table.

It also had a completely ordinary gym.

Aveline had her knees wrapped bent on a pullup was she did inverted sit ups. Her taped fists were pressed into her shoulders while her hair was pulled back in a loose pony tail. After a few more crunches, she flipped off the bar and began hammering a punching bag. The boys found her, face tight in concentration, running through forms to keep her skills sharp. Hiccup went first.

“Sooo . . .” She glanced at him and kept going “we need a hand.”

“What have you two done?” She wondered, as she too a short break. Connor, who had plunked himself down on the staircase’s rail, spoke up.

“You’ll have to see this to believe it. Grab a tranq-rifle and help us crack the vault open.”

**AN HOUR LATER**

The three teens were laying on the lip of the cove, watching as the dragon tried to catch fish. Connor was holding a wrapped-up packet of cloth. Hiccup was making small adjustments to his drawing of the dragon. Aveline was trying to keep herself from beating her boyfriend and his adopted brother to death with her bare hands.

Eventually, the girl stopped with her imaginary attempts at murder and started lining up a shot. The boys slipped down and began creeping forward. The dragon glanced over its shoulder before turning and lowering itself to the ground. The boys went toward it side by side for a few steps then split and began heading in opposite directions to arc around the creature. The lizard glanced between the two as they moved and sped up as they got farther apart. Eventually it had to make a choice. It glanced between them once, twice, then settled on Connor because he smelled funny. As it turned toward the bigger assassin, a much smaller one was making her move.

Aveline put the scope’s crosshairs on the dragon’s neck. She breathed in, out. Then she pulled the trigger.

The dart caught the animal in a soft area on its neck. It flailed, roared, then started shooting at the two idiots that it could see. These idiots immediately dove for cover. The dragon roared and tried its best to head towards Connor. It staggered after him only breathing fire when it thought it saw him move.

Many years from now, Connor would take great joy in telling his grandkids about a drunk dragon that tried to kill him.

The Assassin rolled to another boulder and a flimsy ball of plasma soared four feet above him. He poked his head out and watched as another whizzed by the rock’s opposite side. It groggily turned around to look for Hiccup, peeking over a large log. The ginger watched as a boiling loogie went six feet over his head. Then the dragon rolled over on its face and passed out. The three stood up carefully.

“Well that happened.” Hiccup droned, “let’s roll the big guy over and put the Shroud on him.” It took them fifteen minutes and a branch to get his wings in the right position, but they did it. They also found out it was a guy. The dragon lay with the Shroud covering the front half his head, the middle of his back, and the middle of his tail.

Aveline and Connor had gone to make sure nothing snuck up on them while Hiccup kept an eye on the lizard. Him and his brother had dragged a cooler full of fish down a small tunnel that went from the surface the floor of the basin. Hiccup sighed, trying to ignore all the ways this could go wrong that his imagination offered up.

He went over to kneel next the dragon’s head and wrapped his fists in the Shroud. The cool presence of Consus enveloped his mind.

“This animal’s biology is _odd._ ” The intelligence’s floating head appeared over the dragon’s. It had a smooth voice that sounded like it was coming from a bottle. There was a thoughtful look on its face. It started orbiting the animal in slow circles while Hiccup watched.

“Can you fix him?” The being thought for a moment, then nodded.

“It is organic matter after all, the basics are still the same.” The boy sighed quietly.

“Thanks.” Consus gave its equivalent of a shrug.

“I am performing my dedicated function and am not stuck in a box. No thanks are necessary human.” There was a ding that sounded like a toaster. “It is done. The animal will wake up in a few minutes.” Consus left him, and the odd chilly feeling of having someone in his brain left. He folded the sheet up carefully, then put it back in a giant Ziploc bag. That done, he hid behind a rock.

A few minutes later, just like Consus said, the dragon began to stir. He rose up on his forelegs to sniff at the air then zeroed in on Hiccup’s hiding place like a bloodhound. Hiccup who had been expecting the animal to fly away peeked around the corner. He swallowed when he realized the dragon was gone. He went back into cover, turned to the left and found an enormous pair of green eyes staring at him.

Hiccup shrieked, then using the kind of strength that comes looking death itself in the face, covered nine feet in a single jump and sprinted away. When he dove behind another rock, he peeked back out to find the dragon perched on the rock he had come from. Hiccup was pretty sure it was amused, as there was a twist to the ridges above its eyes. He held up his tail and glanced between the boy and it a few times. They stared at each other, then the dragon flapped to a point in between both of their rocks to get a better look at the weird human.

**THREE MILES AWAY**

Connor was not the sneakiest of his brothers. Far from it in fact. He made up for it with a vicious mix of pragmatism and brutality that had impressed both enemy and ally alike. But he was still ahead of most people. This is why a man passed by not an arm’s reach away as he hid in a bush. The poor guy was then dragged into the malevolent shrubbery. A wrecking ball of a hand slammed into a temple, ensuring his silence.

He rolled into another patch and wrapped another in a stranglehold until he was out. He took to the trees next, monkeyed across a trio of low hanging branches, then tackled a third into the ground. Two swift punches had him out. The reason for all this aggravated assault sat in a camp forty feet away.

Supposedly, it held a file on possible precursor sites around the planet. With a history seemed to be made mostly of legends, the Assassins of Berk had long since stopped bothering with the stupid things. There just so happened to be a Seismic Temple that sat under the mountain of Berk. As a pragmatic order living on an island full of pragmatic people, they had decided to leave something they didn’t fully understand alone.

As such, the objective was not to recover the information, but destroy it entirely. Second, they would see if there was any form of plan to try and get into the Temple. Or if there was any knew kinds of artifacts that they needed to worry about. Keeping them off the streets of Berk was their biggest priority.

Connor watched as Aveline leapt down from the canopy and slammed one of the men into the ground. Just as planned. His tomahawk took the throat out of the closest. He went under the swing of a spear, came up with stab to the throat.

Aveline took off a man’s hand, slammed the hook of her machete into an eye. She kicked the corpse into a another’s path. Her whip cracked, blinding a third. She got in close, hacking into a fourth’s chest.

A rope dart shot out from Connor’s wrist, jerking the last to the ground. The Assassin brought down the hatchet one last time.

Quiet.

The two gently touched palms together, eyes looking for new holes in the other. Finding none they needed to worry about, both pulled away to look the place over. Aveline stomped the lock off a footlocker to paw at its innards. Then she kicked it upside down in frustration.

“Why were they camping out here?” She wondered aloud.

“Asking the wrong person.”

“Okay, I’ll ask this guy,” She nudged a corpse with a booted toe, “ _tell me your secrets_.” Connor let out a puff of laughter at the sight.

He loped to the main desk to start going over the folders. There was nothing that looked important, but that usually meant he wasn’t seeing something. He grabbed everything he could, folded it in half, and jammed the papers into a small pack. He repeated the process until the table was clear.

They darted up into the trees and were gone.

**AT THE COVE**

Just because a dragon is somehow hanging from a tree by its tail doesn’t mean it doesn’t want to cuddle. If you said that about people or dragons, you got funny looks. Hiccup would get lots of funny looks as he grew older. With the flying lizards, however, it is surprisingly true. The creatures need validation and support from those around them, be they other dragons, people, or small animals that they don’t eat.

The boy that had been given to brains and not enough common sense was busy trying to worm his way up the tree the dragon hung from. Like an idiot. A limb cracked under his foot, and the dragon popped open an eye to meet the human’s own. It scrunched its nose up, then fired a small bolt of plasma at the branch Hiccup stood on. It broke off the tree and brought Hiccup down with it.

He laid on his back for a moment, getting his breath back.

“I’mma pet you so much.” It huffed out a small cloud of smoke then went back to sleep. The boy scowled, then shuffled off to rethink his life decisions, and draw pictures in the sand, but not in that order. Because he was an idiot.

He was also an amazing sketch artist.

A stick flicked the sand around, scratching back and forth in a picture of the dragon’s head and neck. Hiccup had propped his head on a fist, surveying his creation with a flat look. The soft thump of padded feet almost made him fall off his rock.

The shadow that looked a lot like his drawing made Hiccup go faster, finishing with an eye, and a small change to the left ear thing. There was an odd snorting noise, then the sound of padded feet waddling away. Then wood screeched as it was twisted off the base of the tree. Hiccup turned, and was almost smacked in the face by the head of a sapling.

It was clear the dragon was drawing something, the deep line in the ground was evidence enough of that, but he couldn’t tell what. He waited until it had stopped and carefully rose from his place on the rock. He moved carefully, a grace that had come from years of training guiding his feet around the rough shapes.

Hiccup made his way to the rock wall to climb a few feet up the side. From the higher ground, he realized it was the vague shape of a face. He dropped back down, walked a few paces, then nearly jumped out of his skin when the dragon rumbled. Hiccup glanced down to see the toe of his boot on the edge of a rut. He took a step over it into the next largest gap.

The boy followed one line and turned to the left, tried to follow another and completed a full spin. His gaze flicked to a third and he started turning to the right. A step back to get a better view. Another to keep from falli- _oh shit that’s the dragon’s nose_.

A huff made the hair on his neck stand up straight, and his knees couldn’t decide if they wanted to be ramrod straight or noodles. He turned and looked into neon green eyes, as oval shaped pupils watched him back. Hiccup carefully brought his hand up and reached out. The dragon pulled back ever so slightly with a snarl. Hiccup swallowed around the lump in his throat, closed his eyes, and looked away. A moment that didn’t last as nearly as long as it seemed. Something rough and pebbled pressed into his palm.

Hiccup opened his eyes and found the dragon’s nose pressed gently but firmly into his skin. The dragon chuffed, opened his eyes, and darted away. Hiccup let out a deep sigh of relief, and relaxed. Soft footsteps told him that Connor had arrived at his side.

“Dude.”

“Yeah.”

“That was awesome.”

“Kind of.”

“Aveline’s going to kill you.”

“Crap.”

**A LONG WAY AWAY**

Stoick stood on the bridge of a long ship. The Nazis had left behind many things when they had been wiped off the face of the earth. Impressive ships and guns were some of them. The modern long ship was a small vessel by naval standards. The size of a corvette and loaded with anti-air weapons, they were made for lightning raids against the dragons.

The big man stood over a map of the waters around Berk. He pressed a fist into the surface, slow and smooth. The command deck was laid out before him, Spitelout at his side, prepared for orders. The chieftain glared out the nearest window. In front of the ships stood an enormous wall of fog, impenetrable to the naked eye. Sonar pinged out and in telling them what they couldn’t see.

“They’re close, Ah can almost smell them.”

“Tha’s probably John’s socks.”

“Ah will punch you.” Both chuckled quietly. The crewmen around them were sharing small jokes, a few of the married ones sent out a last few _I love yous_. Below, the veterans told war stories and rookies bragged. There was Willhelm, who told of the time he fought a Gronkle bare handed and footed. Sara fingered a necklace of teeth that came from a particularly vicious Nightmare. Brady and Nick were wrapped in each other’s arms.

Stoick ground his teeth then stepped away from the table.

“Take us in.” Orders went through the radio and the armada turned to port, devoured by the fog. A moment later, the air was torn apart by the sounds of war.


	4. The Manual

**THAT NIGHT**

It was raining as they ran back to the hall. The two warriors were very, very wet by the time they got back. Even inside, it would take a while dry out as there were no heaters. The hall was designed to be big enough for the entire village to comfortably sleep in. Therefore, heating the entire thing was very expensive.

“Naow, where did Astrid go wrong in tha ring tadae?” Gobber’s thick voice echoed around the mostly empty hall. The rest of the class where at a table in one of the back tables, nestled between some pillars. The girl in question spoke for herself.

“I mistimed my somersault dive. It was sloppy. It threw off my reverse tumble.” Snotlout cooed at her from across the table. She rolled her eyes.

“No, no! It was great! It was so” there was a ridiculous pause, “ _Astrid_.”

“Yeah, we noticed.” Ruff gave a snort and a customary insult. Gobber gave both kids an irritated glance before continuing.

“She’s roight. Ya have ta be tough on yerselves.” Hiccup and his friends had arrived at the table with trays of food. Snotlout gave them a sullen glare and reluctantly moved to make space. Aveline, however sat on the opposite side of the table and began messing with Connor’s head. Hiccup raised a brow when the twins scooted away her. “Naow where did Hiccup go wrong?” Ruff snorted.

“Uh, he showed up?” Tuff gave him a dirty grin and happily joined in.

“He didn’t get eaten.”

Both were completely ignorant of the professional killers sitting at the table and the one that they had insulted.

Aveline stretched and “accidently” elbowed Ruffnut in the head, just as Gobber did the same to Tuff. There would later be a discrete high five between the two. Actual advice from Astrid still managed to sting even worse.

“He’s never where he should be.”

“ _Thank you_ , Astrid.” The mechanic pulled a large book from . . . _somewhere_ , shoved an entire tray of food on the floor with a tankard attachment sturdy enough to use as a club, and tossed it on the table. “Tha _Dragon Manual_. Everything we know about every dragon we know of.” The only people paying close attention were Astrid, Fishlegs, and Hiccup. Tuffnut was trying to balance a knife straight up in the air, Snotlout was picking at something in his hair, and Ruffnut was trying to discretely stab her brother with a fork. Connor was having trouble keeping a straight face. Thunder boomed outside and Gobber gave it long listen. “No attacks tonight, study up.”

The meatheads at the table froze in actual terror.

“Wait,” Tuff began, his voice shaking “you mean read?” Unattended, his knife fell over. His sister moaned.

“While we’re still alive?” Snotlout raised a fist and pounded the table so hard every cup on it rattled.

“Why read words when you can just kill the things the words tell you stuff about?!” The brawny kid thundered. Hiccup pinched the bridge of his nose, and silently bemoaned the fact that “The Pride of Berk” had an IQ in the lower half of the double digits. Fishlegs, on the other hand, whooped with joy.

“I’ve read it, like, seven times!” His eyebrows had shot up under his hatmet, and his class mates started giving him strange looks “there’s a water dragon that spits boiling water at people and another one that has bone armor and then anoth-”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s great.” Tuffnut snapped his fingers together in front of the larger kid’s face in the universal gesture to shut up, “there was a chance I was gonna read that.”

“But now . . .” His sister began, then trailed off with an eye roll.

“You guys read, I’ll go kill stuff.” Snotlout got up, made an obvious effort to go around Hiccup, and lumbered off to the door. The twins followed, traded a few punches and kept going without missing a beat, Fishlegs hurried after them as well, shouting facts about dragons. Hiccup slowly slid over to where the book sat and awkwardly reached out to grab it.

“So-o, I guess we’ll share?” The boy asked, ever hopeful. Astrid stood and left with nary a glance.

“Read it.”

“Oh, well I’ll see y--” The door clanged shut, cutting him off. He sighed.

“It’s okay man, you’ll get your chance.” Connor rumbled, as he tried (and failed) to ignore Aveline’s boot going up and down his leg. Hiccup shrugged and flipped open the book. He flipped through it for a few moments, then sat back.

“You know, the Vikings were weird about naming things.”

**FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER**

Astrid’s boots softly hit the dirt as she ran. It was just a light jog, and since the rain had gone from a torrent to a trickle, she was going to get a good one in. She found comfort in the motions as she went. She was not worried about being alone. Muggings were rare on Berk, but they almost always happened when there was a foray out to find the Nest.

Because of the huge amount of people that were gone during one of these crusades, there really wasn’t a government on Berk for a few months, and it wasn’t unheard of for people to take the law into their own hands get rid of a particularly troublesome thief. Therefore, Astrid simply snarled that the two men that stepped out of the alley.

“This is a bad time. Go away.”

“You’ve been seeing the Assassin.” The first rumbled. The hammer of a gun clicked into position. He was big, but average for Berk. He had odd tattoos on the backs of his hands, and a large handgun pointed in her general direction. The second was broad at the shoulders and narrow at the waist. He would stand out among the stocky built people. He held a pistol, pointing it at the ground. Both were wearing the ski masks you saw in the movies. She glared at them.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Skinny let out a deep sigh.

“This is Berk. Hardball will get you killed here.” He took a step forward and made an almost calming gesture. “Look kid. We just need to learn a few things.” She scowled and kept glaring. Skinny sighed “look, they want us to bring you in alive, and I really don’t like the idea of dragging an unconscious fourteen-year-old around in our van.” He glanced at his partner.

For some reason, he was looking at shoes. The thought went through his head, and a hidden blade went through his throat. Aveline let the man drop like a sack of potatoes. Altair leapt down from the fire escape he had been perched on. The two did a fist bump and then kicked the bodies into an open sewer covering. Neither spoke. Altair patted his sister on the shoulder and vanished into the shadows, white coat be damned. Aveline turned and punched her lightly on the shoulder. Astrid glared.

“I could have handled that.” Aveline rolled her eyes started walking down the street.

“Precautions sweetheart. C’mon, let’s get some Mcnuggets. I’m starving.” Astrid huffed and followed. At the aforementioned fast food joint, one of them was chowing down on dubious meaty snacks. The other was still glaring.

“We just ate.”

“So?” Astrid made a frustrated noise.

“There’s going to be questions now.” Her friend snorted.

“There’s always questions. They went after you, they already know you’re hanging around with us.” Aveline popped a nugget in her mouth, and smiled at the angry blonde, “now, about your huge and incredibly obvious man problems.” Astrid groaned and cradled her face, then muttered something about stupid adorable freckles. Aveline leaned in close and whispered, “did I hear something about a lady boner?”

“Shut your face.”

“Oh please. He’d be all over you if you gave him half a chance.” Aveline took one last pull from her cup and hucked it into the trash. The employees cheered. “Just grab him by the shirt and drag him to a shed it you’re nervous.”

“ _Shut up._ ” Aveline sat back and rolled her eyes again. Astrid was one of her best friends outside the Brotherhood. In her opinion, giving your friends shit was practically required. The entertainment value never really ended. Still, the seemingly one-sided romance between Astrid and Hiccup had been going on since forever. That said, looks could be deceiving.

Nothing is true and all that.

When Connor had let slip that Hiccup was part of the brotherhood, Astrid hadn’t really believed her. How could someone like him be a part of something so violent? She had asked everyone except Connor and Desmond, knowing the two would immediately tell Hiccup. Altair had smiled thinly and told her to figure it out. Ezio had laughed and walked off. Achilles had told her to get off his lawn. Aveline had rolled her eyes, muttered something about men and assholery, and actually explained the situation.

Hiccup had always had a basic understanding of the Assassins, much like Astrid. His best friends were descended from a long line of influential mentors that could be accurately traced back to the Romans. Children were also terrible at keeping secrets from one another, yet amazing at keeping them from adults. At first, when they were kids the three were always in trouble, with Hiccup thinking up outlandish schemes, usually to get a hold of large amounts of candy, and the other two pulling it off without a hitch. When Connor’s mother died in what was clearly arson, Stoick had adopted the child without a second thought.

He was then treated to a very abrupt history lesson about the shadow war that had been going on between the two organizations when Templar agents tried to kidnap his kids. It ended badly. Three days later, one Haytham Kenway received a call from the Commander of Berk. This ended badly as well. Six agents later, all of which ended up in the morgue, no one would even come near the two. Stoick was pleased with himself, and almost strangled William Miles. Eventually the two made amends and Stoick reluctantly let his kids start training. A few years later, Hiccup’s Hiccupness appeared and started as being a problem.

Stoick was mad of course, and despite the fact that Hiccup was being trained by arguably the best warriors on Berk, he still managed to break plenty of things by just standing in a room. This managed to piss off everyone in visual range. And so, he was still the town outcast. But Astrid had liked him since they were kids, even though it was damn near a taboo to say anything positive about the boy.

The blonde sighed and put her head down on the table. Aveline snorted and sat back, mostly satisfied.

**AT THE SAME TIME**

“Strike class, fear class, mystery class.” Hiccup read out loud. Next to him, Connor grunted. “Let’s see here, nightmare fuel, more nightmare fuel, target practice, invisible killing machine. Sweet Jesus.” Connor stole the book and gave the Changewing a once over.

“It spits acid? That’s awesome.” Hiccup groaned and muttered something about man children. Connor’s grin grew as he skimmed the dragon’s pages. “Huge acid spitting chameleons!” Hiccup pulled the book back and kept going. At the very end, he found what he was looking for.

“The Night Fury, speed unknown, size unknown. Capable of firing superheated plasma in bombing runs. Incredibly accurate. Kill on site.” He pulled the notebook from an inner coat pocket and laid it down on the open pages. The sketch seemed . . . right. As if it belonged. He hummed, then jammed the journal back into a pocket. “Let’s go punch something.” The huge manual was jammed into a seemingly bottomless pocket and the two jogged out the door to find some kind of trouble.

Taking to the rooftops, they tumbled and rolled their way along like demented acrobats. They swung on pipes and the occasional neon sign with practiced ease. The rare civilian on street level dutifully ignored them, as this was not something new. They stopped for breath after a few minutes. Connor glanced at his dumb friend.

“Got a plan yet?” Hiccup hummed for a moment.

“The basics.”

“Joy.” They sat for a few moments, and Connor drew out a whetstone to work on his hatchet. Hiccup pulled the book out and flipped through it. A few minutes later, Altair walked up to them. He glanced between the two of them, sat down, and stretched.

“Nerds.” They both rolled their eyes. “There’s a contract out for some guy called the Merchant.”

“Original.” Altair snorted.

“Make sure it’s quiet.” The other two grunted in acknowledgement. The older Assassin left and the younger two went in the opposite direction. Roughly a half hour later, the boys were crouching on a roof top next to the Merchant’s small fortress. Connor was using the Sight to get a good look at the guard postings around the building. Hiccup, on the other hand, had used his smartphone to hack into the city hall database for the blueprints.

“Vents?”

“Nah.”

“Roof entrance?”

“Doesn’t have one.”

“That window’s open.” Roughly thirty seconds later, a man came to the window and shut it. He was then stabbed from behind and quietly dumped into a closet. Connor wiped his blade clean and crept down the hallway. Hiccup went the other way, sneakers silently moving over the tile. Quiet noises drifted down the corridor. Behind one door a man was on the phone, another was snoring loudly. A guard on duty was stabbed and leaned against the wall. Connor stalked down the hall like a prowling wolf. He went along, listening to the sounds around him. Sneaking was very important in the assassin’s arsenal of skills.

Being able to get in and out of the occasional secure facility tended to be a hobby of theirs. Any adult in the organization was easily on par with the best special forces operators on the planet. The Miles family was known for having some of the best fighters even among the Brotherhood. Its offshoots, the Fryes and Kenways, were no less famous for their own.

Achilles Davenport had risen from almost nothing, but he was one of the highest ranking (former) assassins on the island. The man was also a hard ass. He been famous for silent movement and some of that talent had rubbed off on his students. Each step they took had been drilled into them with hits from the old man’s cane.

Eight dead men later they met up in front of an expensive looking, and very fortified, door. Connor pulled out his picks and knelt by the lock. He gingerly inserted them into the keyhole. He fiddled with the instruments for a moment, until the door swung open on its own accord. The two glanced at each other. Connor opened the door fully.

He swore as the _fut_ of a suppressed pistol whizzed by his head.

Connor rolled into cover behind one of the chairs in front of the desk. He clenched his teeth and got lower to the ground as bullets slammed into the steel frame of the chair. Hiccup rolled in behind him, then threw a pair of knives at the man shooting at them. The man jerked out of the way and went out the window in a smooth motion. The Assassins stood up from behind the chairs they had been taking cover (not hiding) behind. The Merchant was sitting dead in a chair behind the desk. The man had been garroted.

The Assassins stared at the body in front of them. Connor sighed, then moved forward with a white handkerchief and wiped up some of the still wet blood. He jerked his head toward the window. Hiccup nodded, moved to it, then slid it open farther. They went out, then climbed to the roof of the building.

“You see his face?” Connor asked.

“No” Hiccup scratched at his neck, “he looked bald.” Then the alarm started screaming. They both moved, shooting toward the edge of the roof swearing the whole way. Both filled the air with curses as they went.

“Over there!” Some one shouted. Bullets filled the air, screeching and howling. Connor rolled over the peak of a window, as Hiccup leaped over an air conditioner.

“So much nope!” Hiccup was yelling. Connor dropped onto a balcony, opened a man’s throat with a hidden blade, then kept moving. Hiccup stabbed one in the eye when a guard stuck his head out a window.

When they reached the end of the roof, they found themselves standing over the sea. The guards were shouting, having climbed onto the roof and following them. The brothers glanced at each other then jumped. The chief of security was a stout, brawny man. He scowled in to the water, and hoped he’d be able to find another job after this.

**HALF A MILE AWAY**

A stevedore was having a smoke as Connor hefted himself onto a pier. Then he reached down to grab Hiccup by the shoulder. The stevedore muttered something about adolescence and walked off. The boys stared at each other for a moment, then started laughing.

“You have the mark right?” Hiccup asked. Connor nodded. Both stood, then snuck away from the docks.

**THE NEXT DAY**

“I was wondering if there was any way I could learn more about Night Furies,” Hiccup said. The ring had been turned into a maze today, the walls easily ten feet height. Gobber had happily explained that “tadeh is all aboot ahtack.” Then a gate opened and the birdlike roar of a Nadder could be heard. The kids had scattered, weapons locked and loaded with gauntlets jammed into place. Hiccup thought it was a good idea to start asking questions all of a sudden. “Is there a sequel or a pamphlet? I mean, I could check Reddit, but I don’t wanna.”

Connor tackled him to the ground, then a fireball went right over their heads. He dragged his adopted brother to his feet with a curse and they kept going. Gobber thundered from the bleachers above them.

“Focus Hiccup! Yer nae even tryin’.” The dragon’s clawed feet slammed into the stone as it charged down the corridor after them. They spilt at a T, then kept going. Hiccup stopped for a moment to ask another question.

“But some one’s had to have seen one, right? I mean, we’ve been fighting these things for hundreds of years?” He leaned to the side to avoid Fishlegs and Snotlout charging down the hall “Some one has to know something!” Gobber rubbed the top of his head and thundered back.

“Nae’uns ever seen one an’ lived ta tell the tale, NAOW GE’ IN THAR!”

“I know, I know, but hypothetically—” The boy was cut off by a hiss. He turned, finding Snotlout and Astrid crouching next to a right turn in the maze. His cousin made a “get down” gesture with the hand on his weapon’s foregrip. Hiccup watched as Astrid took a quick glance around the corner. The girl rolled forward with perfect form and did not stop moving, trying to find a way to flank the animal. Snotlout followed in a much less graceful fashion.

Hiccup, rattled by having senpai notice him, full body-tackled the corner post of wall. The Nadder stared at him like he was an idiot. The ginger scrambled to his feet and threw himself down the hall. Legs pumping, he heard Snotlout say something cocky then the sound of paint splattering on wood. The animal actually laughed as the idiot tried to cover himself. Gobber bellowed some more advice from the top of the ring.

“Look fer its blind spot! Every dragon has one!” The twins were charging down a row when the Nadder came around a corner “foind it, hoide in it, then strike!” The mechanic boomed. The twins got lucky and remembered the Nadder’s blind spot was right in front of its face. Unfortunately, the two had to get very close together. Ruff got a good sniff of her brother’s body odor as they weaved back and forth to stay hidden. The girl gagged at the stench.

“Do you ever bathe?” She hissed into his ear. Her brother angrily shoved her away with his shoulders.

“If you don’t like it, get your own blind spot.” She shoved him back harder.

“How about I give you one!” They slammed their hatmets into each other, completely forgetting the giant lizard next to them. Said lizard leaned back on its heels to watch the idiots in front of it. It coughed, its flames pooling in the back of its throat. It rawked, and the kids ran. The bright flames seared the stone and wood as they passed. The Nadder chuffed in frustration, then hopped up onto the fences like a giant scaly bird of prey.

The lizard cocked its head back and forth, the slit eyes on either side of its head were perfect for surveying the entire arena as quick as possible. The dragon was bipedal, with its wings looking almost like arms in between its head and its legs. Its tail was long and thin, covered in spikes that could be launched at an opponent at blinding speed. Its legs were thinner in the thigh and thicker in the calf. Its head was very round with a frill of spikes that covered the base of its skull. It had a beak and a single horn that grew from its nose.

The animal stiffened then raised its tail, spikes extended along its length. The Nadder cocked its hips and did something with its hips that would make a dancer cry. Half a dozen spikes slammed into Fishlegs’ unwound shield.

“I’m really beginning to question your teaching methods!” The kid shouted. Gobber whooped in response. The dragon hopped a few more times and found more food to play with.

Astrid and Aveline had paired up. They sprinted down the corridor like bats out of hell. Stone shuddering under their feet told them all they needed to know. Aveline swore, then started spraying and praying for all she was worth. Astrid ran harder, not wanting to catch one on the shoulder. The blonde hurled herself up one of the pillars on the maze walls. The Nadder slammed its shoulder into the wall trying to stop.

The walls fell like dominos, the heavy wood slamming into the rock with a sound like thunder. Aveline followed her up like a lightning bolt. They jumped once, twice, and sailed out into a clearer area. Unfortunately, Astrid landed on an inattentive ginger. Aveline landed with a roll.

Astrid and Hiccup ended up in a glorified pile. He was trying to apologize, she was trying to get her weapon into a firing position. The Nuts started jeering and Astrid almost died of fright when she heard the dragon coming for the weak links in the team. It was chaos after that.

Hiccup, sweetheart that he was, tried to help, and began stammering out an Idea. Unfortunately, this Idea was disrupted by a lack of blood to the brain. At the rate he was going, the ginger’s face would look a lot like a tomato.

Astrid, on the other hand, was trying to shove herself away from him, because a) she could hear Tuffnut laughing somewhere to her right, b) DRAGON, and c) Hiccup’s stupid face was making stupid faces that made her stupid brain not want worky. The girl kicked her way free from Hiccup’s annoyingly long legs only to find that both of their training rifles looked like your favorite pair of shoes after the dog was done chewing on them.

Then Connor _body checked_ the fucking thing’s face with all the protective big brother rage he could muster, then a little more he found on the side of the road.

The half Mohawk punched and kneed at its eyes with a vicious snarl. The Nadder howled, then whipped its head so hard the death grip Connor had on one of its smaller frill horns broke. He rolled away from the feet the size of his torso, then took cover behind his gauntlet shield. The _thwacks_ of Nadder spikes slamming into it rewarded his foresight. The Nadder straightened, reared back to strike, then caught a concussion grenade to the forehead, courtesy of Gobber.

“Connor, yer one crazy bastard. Did ye know tha’?” Gobber said when the echoes faded. The unconscious dragon was on the floor with its mouth open, a dark purple bruise blossoming on its face, “nae ‘un tell Stoick one o’ his kids fist fought a dragon.” Connor took a shaky breath, then stood.

“Yep, yeah, yep.” Then his girlfriend got ahold of him and Connor wished the dragon had eaten him. Hiccup was dragged to his feet when Astrid grabbed the collar of his tac-vest with her free hand.

“This is not a game, alright?” She hissed at him, her (very pretty) eyes narrowed into slits, “our parents’ war is about to become ours. Stand around like an idiot again, and I’ll feed you a boot strap.” She took his collar with both hands, and Hiccup felt his feet leave the ground, “are we clear?” The boy nodded like he was trying to shake his head off “good.” She dropped him like a rock then stormed off.

“Tha’s enough fer tadeh” Gobber rumbled, as he stepped through the opening gate. The mechanic’s eyes were glued to the still unconscious Nadder, as he strapped the grenade launching prosthetic to his leg then drew out a bull hook for moving the giant lizard, then he grunted “oi, Hic, Connor, ge’ over ‘ere an’ help.” The others left quickly, but reluctantly in Aveline’s case, not wanting to risk mucking the cages out. With the aid of a forklift, the dragon was carefully put back in its enclosure. That done, Gobber whapped both of his surrogate nephews upside the head. “If either o’ ye ever do somethin’ like tha’ again, ye’ll be cleanin’ these cages till yer old an’ grey.” The mechanic spoke every word through gritted teeth, and the boys nodded furiously in response. The man sighed, waving them away. The two shot out of the arena like bats out of hell.

Gobber sighed, starting up the lift to put it back in its place. The two were going to be the death of him at this rate. He had a good idea of they did on their own time and wished that they had not been dragged into the shadow war (that really didn’t have shadows if a person looked hard enough) that went on around the island. The third part of the trio had already been kidnapped because of it. Desmond had been the suave, sneaky one out of the group to Connor’s quiet strength and Hiccup’s sarcastic brains.

And by suave, he meant most socially adept. Connor and Hiccup were shy and awkward respectively. Desmond ended up being the distraction that Hiccup’s plans needed. The three were inseparable, having each other’s backs with childlike enthusiasm. Then Connor lost his mother, and his father was nowhere to be found. Stoick took him in without hesitation as William, Desmond’s father, already had three children, two of which had very troubling nightlives. Then whoever that the Miles’ family were fighting made the mistake of kidnapping Desmond. Ezio disappeared into the Archipelago in a rage, while Altair decided to make the Isle of Berk as safe as he could for his extended family.

Gobber heard stories about both, and it worried him to no end. Ezio had supposedly went up against a man named Shay McCormac then burned down an abandoned city block while trying kill the bastard. The mechanic had heard enough to know that the second oldest Miles sibling had won. Altair on the other hand had been linked to half a dozen disappearances around Berk, but which ever faction had control of the police kept sweeping them under the rug.

He’d seen both of them grow up into the roles that they had accepted. The young ones had just been on the sidelines long enough to become convinced that it was the right thing to do. At least, that was what he had thought. Then rumors of Connor’s home burning down were arson, and the boy’s eyes had turned ever so slightly colder. Hiccup, an outsider for most of his life, found hope for a family. Desmond watched his brothers enter the family business, then followed them right in.

Then Desmond got taken. Hiccup started training in earnest. Connor started helping Altair. The rumors about Ezio steadily got worse. The mechanic sighed, and prayed that the boys would be safe.


End file.
